How easy it is to teach English to a child. Learning English with a toddler at an early age. The most common mistakes

It is difficult to do without knowledge of foreign languages ​​in the modern world. Therefore, many parents begin to teach the baby English almost from the cradle. To what extent is such a desire justified? At what age is it better to start exercising? Much in this important matter depends on the methodology and approach to learning.

Benefits of Early English Learning

There is no unequivocal opinion on whether it is possible to learn a foreign language from the age of 3. There are enough both opponents of this idea and its supporters in the world.

Their arguments are sometimes contradictory.

Domestic (S. I. Rubinstein, L. S. Vygotsky) or foreign (T. Eliot, V. Penfield, B. White and many others) psychologists are unanimous in their opinion that it is useless to study a foreign language up to 3 years, and after 10 is pointless.

We will listen to the opinion of scientists, and we will start learning English as soon as the baby is 3 years old.

What you need to know before getting started

Before starting to study English at home, parents need to prepare themselves and take into account some of the nuances

1. You need to start classes on the condition that you can conduct them regularly, and not from case to case.
2. If you are not fluent in English, try to polish your pronunciation before class. When a child, repeating after you, pronounces words incorrectly, it will be difficult for him to relearn at school.
3. Before you teach your baby, check out the existing methods, choose the one that, in your opinion, is best for your baby.
4. Language learning should be carried out in a fun, playful way. The boring cramming of English words will discourage the little fidget from repeating English words.

How to teach your child English. Methods and techniques

When teaching the crumbs, you need to use all possible ways to familiarize yourself with the English language.

• Special techniques.
• Audio and video recordings.
• Children's programs for teaching English.
• Games.
• Entertaining books and special cards.

The key to success in teaching English at home is that all classes are conducted in an easy game form, without coercion and prodding from adults.

The more interesting you present the necessary material to the baby, the more interested he will learn new things.

For homeschooling, 3 popular methods are most often used.

Game technique

The name already speaks for itself. This way of learning a foreign language is the most effective, since it does not look like a special activity that requires perseverance.

The kid receives the necessary knowledge in the process of playing or communicating with parents and assimilates information without noticing it.

The use of the game method contributes to an accessible way of mastering knowledge

1. Creation of the child's readiness for verbal communication (including in a foreign language).
2. During the game, the baby has a need to repeatedly repeat certain phrases, so they easily remember English words.
3. Learning in the process of play occurs through the child's own actions, which are a kind of practice. As a result, up to 90% of the information is assimilated.
4. In any game there is a certain secret (unreceived answer to a particular question), which stimulates the child's mental activity, pushing him to find the right answer.

Begin training with the simplest objects and toys. The kid will easily remember that "dog" is a dog, and "cat" is a cat.

Every day, replenish your baby's vocabulary. When talking with the baby, pronounce the words already known to him in English. Immersion in the language environment, when the baby hears English every day, is the key to successful learning.

To study and consolidate information, you need to use all the methods available and understandable to the child.

Here are just a few examples

An educational children's program "Funny English" is on the Karusel TV channel . Kids at this time simply cannot be torn off the screen. Education takes place in the form of a game that captures the attention of the baby from the first seconds.

The facilitator uses visual, auditory and sound methods of transmitting information to memorize. Kids learn lessons very quickly and after a few programs they surprise adults with their knowledge.

N. Zaitsev's method

Many mothers are familiar with Zaitsev's methods of teaching reading and counting. When learning English, he uses the same technique, only Latin letters are written on the cubes and cards.

You can memorize the alphabet and learn a certain number of English words using the game method with your baby. Zaitsev's cubes help the child to master English grammar in an accessible form.

However, at the age of three, it is difficult for a baby to learn the rules for constructing a sentence in English. Therefore, it is better to use Zaitsev's cubes and tables when the child grows up a little. Usually classes start at the age of 5.

Glenn Doman Method

Young mothers try to use the most modern or popular methods for raising and educating a baby, including the Doman method, which has long been known and enjoyed success in the West. Undoubtedly, he has proven himself well and raised more than one generation of kids. But, if we take a closer look at the methodology, we will see that it combines the game form of teaching English and the Zaitsev method, that is, books, cartoons plus cards.

Conclusion: in order for the kid to quickly master a new science, you need not force him to study, but build them so that the child himself wants to learn. When the baby learns the first foreign words, talk to him in English as often as possible - on a walk, before going to bed or while swimming. Do not forget to encourage the baby and praise for the results achieved.

Didactic material for learning English with kids

English… English! Oh English!!

If you can help a child in elementary school with Russian or mathematics on your own, then with English the situation is completely different.

At best, it takes hours of homework, at worst, tutors and huge expenses.

What if your parents learned German at school? Or they forgot that they taught so long ago ...

At one time, my child and I, using effective teaching techniques, completed the annual school English program in a week and were able to enter the best school in the area.

I remember that we learned 150 words of English in a week, Andrey just jumped for joy !!

However, it proved to be short-lived, and is shot down by the English teacher at the school.

Therefore, when Ksenia Zimovets, an English teacher, came to our Summer School of Experts, I was very happy.

For almost three months we have been working on a teaching methodology with the addition of the best techniques and strategies.

Xenia has created her own, innovative and simple curriculum for younger students.

And the basis of this technique is play and simplicity.

In this article, we will talk about the 5 most common ways to memorize words. Ksenia Zimovets can perfectly compare how it is “usual” to teach at school and the most effective strategies for memorizing words.

This topic is very important from the first days of learning a foreign language, as teachers often do not give students and their parents any recommendations on this issue.

Today you will learn how to learn foreign words, what ways and methods exist and how to find out which one is best for a child.

The first way is to repeat the word over and over.

But we do not consider it the best. Why?

Imagine that you have a dictionary (with or without pictures) in front of you, and you need to memorize those 5-10 words that are given at home.

Most often, we look at words and pronounce their words - translation.

After reviewing this way five times, we already believe that we have learned everything.

But in the morning in the classroom, for some reason, these words are not remembered, completely or partially.

Learning by repetition is the most common method, but it is not very effective.

The fact is that our brain is used to the fact that if it sees a word not for the first time, then it believes that it already knows it. That is, having seen the same word several times, the brain is already sure that the word has already been learned.

At the same time, memory is practically not involved, and therefore, when reproducing words, both orally and in writing, serious difficulties often arise.

Well, with this method, you can learn a word only when the word occurs frequently.

In addition, learning a word in a minute is not a problem.

3 words in 3 minutes - easy.

And 60 words in 60 minutes is difficult and difficult, because they will be forgotten faster than remembered.

The next most popular technique for memorizing foreign words used at school is the use of copybooks.

This method is better than the first one, since in this case the student, in addition to seeing the word visually, also uses his muscle memory by writing words.

This method will be much more effective if you try to use all the senses:

1) we are looking at a foreign word

2) pronounce it in a foreign language

3) prescribe it

If at the same time you also remember the translation of each word, the method will be quite effective.

The main disadvantage is the large amount of effort spent on prescribing, since this is often done purely mechanically, and therefore a lot of time and effort is wasted.

The third way is cards with words and phrases.

They are very comfortable and welcomed by children as you can see your real progress!

Divide the cards into groups according to how well you remember them.

For example, 1 stack - I remember well, 2nd - not very well, you need to repeat and a stack of new cards with words that you are just starting to learn.

Store them in different boxes and take them with you to make the most of your time, even when you're stuck in traffic on your way home.

You can write down words on cards in 7-10 pieces, and after that it is convenient to repeat them, just flipping through the cards, like cards in a deck.

The fourth way is understanding the word through the context

The context can be both foreign and Russian.

For example, when we take a word in a foreign language and enter its Russian sentence in such a way that this word is completely understandable in context.

I need keys to lock the doors. (i.e. keys)

This method can be combined with cards or used as a game at home or with friends.

He was escorted back to his room, where he received a cup of coffee, two soft eggs, and a white BREAD with butter.
Mikhail Bulgakov, The Master and Margarita

And the last and very effective method, just like the previous one, is to add associations to the word, to revive it

The technique is simple: we have a word in a foreign language and we select an association to this word by the sound of the word.

Aunt (aant) aunt. Here "ant" is similar to "bow" and we can easily imagine a woman with bows.

Remembering this or sketching it on a card, you can easily remember the right word.

Children really like this method and they are happy to master it.

After a few hours of class, you will see that in inventing associations and interesting images, children are much more resourceful than adults.

This Sunday we invite all parents, fathers and mothers, grandparents to a fascinating country of English for children of parents.

This is a training that will reveal all the secrets and dark spots in learning English, as well as put the material on the shelves

You will learn how to learn the English Year Program in two weeks and go over it in detail with an English teacher

The training will take place this Sunday at 12.00

On it you:

• Get a detailed review and comparison of English textbooks
• Can you find the best book for your child?
• Get detailed maps and find out what is being studied in 2nd grade? In 3rd grade? In 4th grade?
• What do you need to teach your child to be successful?
• Find out where to get audio for textbooks
• Learn to read in English and get simple reading rules for parents and children
• In the "Grammar for Parents" block, you will receive a set of the necessary theory and learn how to explain it to a child?
• Practice the most effective techniques for memorizing foreign words
• Learn the most effective retelling and reading strategies in English

And also live, we will learn words in English - family, colors, pronouns, verbs, counting, animals, acquaintance and farewell, food, rooms and furniture, adjectives, toys, lifeless. Nature, face and body, clothes

As a result, you will be able to help your child with the language, even if they have never been taught before.

To make your child's education at school or family education easy and enjoyable, and you do not have to spend large sums on tutors.

Ksenia has been interested in effective learning techniques for a long time and is constantly looking for new educational strategies.
Higher pedagogical education.
Public school teacher.
English teacher.
Stage teacher.

Ksenia is a successful graduate

Interested in: positive parenting, early development, psychology, developmental psychology, pedagogy, effective learning, English

Why you should visit the Elementary School English in a Day series:

Because you can not only reduce the time for lessons and homework, but also save nerve cells and the family budget.

In addition, the best way to motivate a child to learn a language is to get carried away with it yourself.

As always, at the start of sales, the most favorable prices for participation and a 40% discount are only 24 hours

P.S. Participants of the "School of Smart Children" get access to the program automatically.

Greetings to all parents concerned about the upbringing and education of their children!

So, we, adults, could not tear our children away from the game ... They were so passionate about these truly educational toys that I came up with the idea to find the same ones so that my daughter would be happy with them, and I would have free time.

By the way, these toys can be safely used at the initial stage of your baby's acquaintance with the English language. How? Read my article and find out!

Today, more and more parents want their children to know a foreign language. It's even better if they learn it as early as possible. As a mother, I perfectly understand this desire and support it with my arms and legs! And as a teacher, more and more often I hear doubts, worries and hundreds of questions from familiar mothers about what to do, how to do it, when to start, how to get interested, and many, many others.

So today I decided to do an absolutely practical lesson. I want to answer every question I've ever been asked in the simplest possible way, and give you dozens of great tips for you and your baby to choose your path of learning.

Everything is clear, understandable and on the shelves!

Shall we start?

• The earlier the better! Scientists say that children remember information much faster than adults aged 2 to 9 years. From here you can easily answer the question of when to start teaching English to a child! The answer is simple - as soon as possible! From as early as possible, teach your child to speak English (). There are hundreds of ways to do this. Look for those that will work with your baby and the result will not keep you waiting! And how to teach children English - read on!
• Divide the roles! Do you know how in Western countries children are made bilingual (that is, those who speak 2 languages ​​at once)? Parents share roles. If someone in the family can speak a foreign language, great, do it. Let the child get used to 2 languages ​​​​at once from childhood (). If no one in your family knows a foreign language, then this is another question. Well, then we will use other methods.
• Include English in your daily life! In the event that you yourself do not speak English fluently, you can still learn a few phrases to help your baby at the initial stage. For example, you can start saying " good morning' instead of 'Good morning', ' good night" instead of "Good night", give him a toy and call it in English. Try to do this as often as possible. You will not have time to look back, as your child will begin to say to a passing car, “ a car».
• Play with them. Girls' favorite game is "daughters-mothers", so imagine that the dolls came from another country and speak only English. Or a bunny jumped in to visit you (a helicopter flew in, a car from cartoons like "Robocar" arrived), which needs to be told what toys you have.

• Interest! What I repeat from time to time: children should be interested! Get them interested in interesting stories. Your baby probably does not even understand why he needs it at all, why someone can speak a different language, why he needs to do this. Explain it in an interesting way. Come up with a fairy tale about how countries and languages ​​were created. For example:

There were several wizard brothers. The brothers went in different directions, found land for themselves and began to settle there. They built houses for children, created various children's parks, invented new games that others did not have. Yes, they worked so hard that they forgot that they spoke the same language. And each brother appeared in the country with his own language. But millions of children from different countries wanted to come to the country of their uncles. And therefore, to make it easier for them there, they learned the language of this country ...

Come up with such different fairy tales that will explain to the baby why he needs to learn something. Make it interesting for him and then you don't have to torment him and put pressure on him to study.

If you are a caring parent and interested in the development of your child, then you may like one of my finds, which is not related to English, but can be a cool tool in class with your fidgets. This name book ! It is printed individually for your child, and the idea in it is simply amazing, in my opinion! And what do you think?

The most common mistakes!

We all make mistakes. And in teaching our children too. Try to eliminate the possibility of these errors.

1. Unwillingness to understand your baby.
   If you see that your child does not really want to do something, does it through whims and tears - change tactics. Listen to your kids. Let me remind you that the most important thing is to generate interest! If learning for him is tears and screams - you are unlikely to be on the right track!
2. Lessons from time to time.
   This is where persistence is needed. You can not work out once a week for 10 minutes and postpone everything “for later”. So nothing will work. But here's my advice to you: allocate 40 minutes 2 times a week, but still somehow connect the rest of the time with English. The main thing is not to be lazy and take small steps every day!
3. You press!
   Children are very receptive at any age, so do not put pressure on them. Don't expect them to abruptly repeat everything after you. Don't expect instant results. Learning is a long and not the easiest process. But it is in our power to make this process enjoyable for our beloved kids.
4. Don't criticize!
   Fixing bugs is fine. But you need to do it in such a way as not to kill the child's desire to learn. Point out mistakes, but don't focus on them. Praise your children. Rejoice in their accomplishments with them. Be their friend who helps them, not a strict teacher with a pointer at the ready!

Dear ones, I tried to close as many questions as possible today, but I am sure that you still have (or will have) more! So don't wait for the answer to come by itself. I will be glad to help you. Leave your questions in the comments, share your experience of how you teach your children! And I, in turn, will be very glad to help you if you get lost along the way.

I recently created a special section "". There I tried to collect all the materials you need to start your journey to the country of the English language. Use them for your health. Write your wishes or questions in the comments!

Subscribe to interesting blog news to always be up to date and get answers to your questions as soon as possible.

Good luck on your journey of language learning with your little ones.
See you soon!

We in Russia like to say: "He (she) speaks the language perfectly." There is no such concept in the "Common European Framework of Reference for Foreign Languages" - language proficiency is determined by six levels (A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2, while A1 is the lowest, and C2 is the highest).

These levels roughly correspond to the names of adult textbooks (Starter, Elementary A1, Pre-Intermediate - A2, Intermediate - B1, and so on).

The vast majority of materials for the age of 6-11 years (marked Primary) are at the level of A1-A2. That is, if you have been struggling with English for 5-10 years at school, college or courses, then the lexical and grammatical material of the children's textbook will be within your power (moreover, you will be able to explain it to the child). Vocabulary and grammar of the Upper-Intermediate and Advanced levels will not be actively involved in the near future (let's just say: by the time of the final exam in a foreign language, it would be nice for a teenager to have an Upper-Intermediate level).

You have time to improve your own English - "to go one step ahead of the child."

With other skills, the situation may be more difficult.

Pronunciation

Children will copy your pronunciation. If it is imperfect, it is necessary to actively use audio and video materials and strive to copy the speakers' speech.

It is worth dealing with the "Rungli" errors in your own speech and eliminate them before the child has time to adopt them.

Runglian speakers do not distinguish between open/closed and short/long vowels. For example, they pronounce the same /i/ (heat) and /ɪ/ (hit), /ɔ/ (port) and /ɒ/ (pot), /ɑ/ (heart) and /ʌ/ (hut), etc. d.

In Runglian, /æ/ (bad) sounds like /ɛ/ (bed).

At the end of a word, voiced consonants are pronounced as voiceless, so it is impossible to distinguish the word dog from dock, hard from heart, etc.

The absence of sounds /ð/ and /θ/ in Russian leads to the fact that, for example, the word thing can be pronounced as sing, and then pronounced as zen.

Remember the transcription icons and pay attention to the transcription of those words that you have to master with your child. Please note: the transcription symbols in British dictionaries and textbooks differ from those that we are used to seeing in Russian textbooks (not by much, don't be alarmed). It is not advisable to teach a child to read (especially write down) transcription at this level. I am sad to learn from parents that in the first or second grade, having barely mastered the first English words, the children began to study transcription. Parents need to know! And the child can use a speaking dictionary (Lingvo, for example).

Copy the pronunciation of phrases that you meet in audio and video courses.

Learn a few expressions of approval in English and try to use them. Well done! good job! You're good at it! Excellent! (praise often, but honestly). Listen to the intonation with which native speakers pronounce these phrases.

listening

It often turns out that skills are developed unequally. Some students speak well, read well, do grammar exercises flawlessly - and barely distinguish speech by ear. Which is not surprising if you remember what tape recorders were in the classrooms in the 90s and what they listened to. But these days, when English-language DVDs are at hand, youtube.com (where you can find lectures for adults in English on any topic, including grammar, vocabulary and phonetics), radio stations broadcast on the Internet, a parent can improve their knowledge in between.

One of the goals of learning a language at this age is to create positive motivation. Lead by example. Show that you are interested in English. Let the child see that you are reading English articles, watching films (or educational videos for adults). Tell them that you will also learn new words and expressions. Remember interesting situations from your life related to a foreign language...

Everyday speech and classroom language

Sometimes this aspect is “forgotten” at school and university. It is easier for graduates to tell the history of England or talk about the economic situation than to remember phrases like “Nice to meet you”, “Where are you from” and “Could you pass the salt?”.

There are two options to fix the problem:
Work through speech stamps as they appear in a children's textbook
Prepare for each lesson certain speech stamps (related to situations), and try to use them more often.

Ideally, you should strive not to switch to Russian once again during the lesson.

Tutorials

According to an adult textbook (even for beginners from scratch), albeit very interesting, you should not study with a child either. The grammar and vocabulary will be the same there, but the topics for discussion, skits, projects will be completely different (age-appropriate).

From the whole variety of English, the British or American version of it is usually chosen for learning, less often - Mid-Atlantic English (American, close to British). I recommend doing BRITAIN English:
It is this option that you most likely studied yourself.
Features of American English Russian examiner can easily take for a mistake

You can use separate American materials, but try to avoid confusion. Understand the issue yourself (read about the difference between British and American spelling, grammar, pronunciation, vocabulary) - at least in order not to consider the American version a mistake.

So, the textbook you need is the British English Primary. This tutorial:
British
It is a training course, and not a manual for the development of individual skills and abilities (i.e., this is not a book for home reading and not grammar, but the main material for classes that combines work on speaking, reading and listening, and ideally also and sections like learning to learn)
Written no more than 10-15 years ago
Designed for children of the appropriate age (sometimes it happens that a nine-year-old student can study according to a teenage textbook, but not according to an adult and not according to a textbook for preschoolers).

I do not recommend taking textbooks by Russian authors as the main course. British textbooks are built on the basis of effective methodologies; they contain no errors, very few typographical errors (Russian publishing houses even manage to publish a poster with the English alphabet with errors), they reflect the current state of the language; they were piloted (i.e., groups were involved in the trial version of the textbook, and after that the author took into account the comments and suggestions); they are part of a large set of well-designed manuals (i.e., after finishing the textbook, you can easily move on to the next level of the textbook in the same series). At the same time, it should be noted that some British manuals have recently been Russified - that is, Russian authors have written their own explanations and additions to popular British manuals. If you are studying under the appropriate British allowance, such a book will be very useful.

Use the textbook, but do not try to complete all the tasks in the form suggested by the author; the teacher's book usually has alternative solutions.

Choose learning materials that are appropriate for your child's level of preparation. Study guides are usually marked like A1, A2, B1 or Starter, Elementary, Pre-Intermediate.

Additional materials

Studying exclusively from a textbook, even the most interesting, would be dreary. The textbook is a framework that allows you not to miss important topics, work within the existing level, move to the next level. And outside the textbook is the actual language, lively, interesting, bright. Tell us about the culture and history of England and the USA (in Russian) - and immediately pick up some material in VERY SIMPLE ENGLISH to illustrate this. Use video materials - sounding speech is perceived completely differently when it is accompanied by a video sequence.

Video courses

For this age, the Muzzy in Gondoland and Muzzy comes back video courses are great. This program was created twenty years ago, so you may have already seen a cartoon about a green alien who eats a clock, Bob the gardener who is in love with a princess, and an insidious long-nosed villain named Corvax. Highly recommend. The course can be found online. At the same time, it must be remembered that watching a cartoon itself, even if it is brilliant from a methodological point of view, is only a passive acquaintance with the material. After each part, use its material in games and exercises; sing the songs that you met in the cartoon (for example, you got the question Where are you from? - ask it to everyone you can: Winnie the Pooh, Barack Obama, the hero of the Japanese cartoon ... and let them answer!). The course includes interactive exercises, but it will be equally interesting to role-play the story.

Some video courses can be watched to reinforce what has been learned. For example, Wizadora! - video course just for this age; this is the story of a sorceress who does not always manage to conjure what she planned (available on torrents.ru)/

Of interest are 4 discs from the Oxford English Video series (listed from simple to complex): Three Billy-Goats; Goldilocks and the Three Bears; The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse; Aladdin. Of these tales, "Three Bears" and "Aladdin" are well known to Russian children. Each story has four songs that you can learn. The age limits of 5-9 years are very conditional. Not all nine-year-olds will enthusiastically study a fairy tale, some eleven-year-olds may find it interesting. But the tasks in the application come across quite complicated.

You don't have to learn English sitting still! Many well-known games (for example, the edible-inedible ball game) can be used to repeat English words (and also to move around and relieve tension). The Humpty Dumpty rhyme has this exercise: sit on the floor, pressing your knees to your chest and wrapping your arms around them. When you reach the words "Humpty Dumpty had a great fall", roll onto your back. Continuing to recite the rhyme and still holding your knees with your hands, try again to move to a sitting position. Whoever does it first wins.

You can repeat the vocabulary with the help of picture cards. At first you just name the pictures, then, when the words are already familiar, you play What's missing? , or, for example, put a card (without showing it) in an envelope with a small hole, and from a small fragment of the image, the child tries to guess what is shown on the card. There are a lot of card games.

Nursery Rhymes - nursery rhymes, sometimes very old ones. Therefore, they may contain, for example, obsolete grammatical forms. But that's no reason to give them up. Many of these poems are usually sung to a specific motive, sometimes the poems are accompanied by gestures or games. Worth watching as their American TV presenter shows
Cullen

The wheels on the bus
Old McDonald had a farm
Miss Polly had a dolly
Head, shoulders, knees and toes
If you're happy and you know it

Adapted books

This is exactly where there are cases when compliance with the level and age does not play such an important role, and you can take a book a little more complicated than a “framework” textbook. Choose reading materials that are related to your child's hobbies and life. When working with books for reading, I do not advise you to get involved in translation - there are many other ways to check the understanding of the text (which also help to consolidate new vocabulary).

One of the many “picture dictionaries” (sometimes books of exercises are attached) will come in handy. It is not bad to start mastering electronic dictionaries already at this stage.

Methodology

Try to look at the language not as a set of rules that you need to master, and then find application for them, but as a set of situations, each of which is “tied” to certain structures and vocabulary. Let’s say, not “explain Present Simple, do exercises on it and try to use it in speech”, but try to imagine what grammatical structures will be needed for the story “Our Family”, analyze an example of such a story, and then give the child the opportunity to compose based on speech patterns your own story (in this case, the term Present Simple itself will be in the background).

It is important that classes do not turn into exclusively reading and solving grammatical “tasks”. A lesson in a textbook may be devoted to reading, listening, even writing - but in each lesson the student must speak. Naturally, in the target language - so do not forget about the classroom language.

Those who have a classroom at home are very lucky: there are many more objects and actions with them that can be discussed in English (remember what you can DO in a school class: open a book, go to the blackboard, take chalk, wipe the blackboard ... in in general, not so much). At the initial stage, there may be a silent period - only you speak, and the child shows a picture or performs an action that you called in English. The names of food products can be mastered on edible material.

Put away the textbook!

The spoken word must appear before the written word. Depending on how much earlier, one speaks of an oral basis of learning, oral anticipation or oral presentation of educational material. In British textbooks for this age, level 1 often contains NO text to read - only speech and songs on the disc, and in the book - illustrations for sounding stories, exercises in pictures, coloring books (this is how colors are taught), paper figures with which to play skits. This is the "oral basis of learning". At the next stage, the text appears, but new words are still first pronounced, and only then appear in written form. At the same time, the problem of reading rules is partially solved: the child already pronounces the word correctly, it remains to correlate the pronunciation with the spelling.

We are accustomed to imagine a foreign language textbook as a book with texts, and progress when working with such a book is quite obvious: at first, simple short texts were read, then long and complex ones. And with an oral basis of learning, the language becomes elusive, and it is more difficult for us to assess what path has already been traveled. Look at the tutorial in terms of features (eg: Introduction, greeting, and farewell). What did the child learn to talk about?

Don't turn class into an exam. “Come on, how will it be in English ...” - ask relatives and friends not to contact the child with such questions. If they are able to maintain a conversation in English or tell a fairy tale, this is wonderful, but there is no need to arrange a translation exam for the child (this is not learning new things, and not working out a familiar one - these are words and phrases taken out of context). Vocabulary mastery is checked by tests within the textbook itself, and words from each topic “pop up” in the next one (as happens in a good textbook).

There is such a concept - exposure, which can be translated by the word "impact". In order to master a language, you need to hear many, many examples of the language, and these examples should be varied, and in terms of level - a little more complicated than what we have already mastered. Ideally, I will say this again, in an English lesson you should speak only in English (it will not turn out right away).

Attitude towards errors

Don't try to fix all the mistakes. Errors are often divided into two types - errors and slips. Errors occur when a person simply does not know the correct option. Sometimes you can not talk about such a mistake (it is impossible to master all the rules at once). Slips - errors where the student already knows the rule. It is worth doing so that he can fix them himself. In order for a child to learn to speak English, he needs to speak often and a lot. If you stop at each mistake, then the speech will turn into a set of correctly pronounced words with long pauses between them.

Already at this stage, you can gradually master learning strategies (for example, how to learn words, how to use a dictionary).

When evaluating the results of classes, pay attention not only to how many words are mastered and what grammatical phrases the child has learned. There are achievements that are less “tangible”, but no less important (for example, independence in working with a topic, the ability to evaluate oneself, a creative approach to memorizing words). Together with your child, learn to come up with vivid examples for memorizing words.

Intersubject communications

Language is well learned when it turns from an end into a means (to achieve another end). Try to print a description of an interesting craft and make it.

Try to find very simple text on a topic that your child is interested in (difficult but realistic; you can even use text from an adult Starter or Elementary textbook).

Pavel Burtovoy

Video designer of the St. Petersburg media channel "First Popular Television". He is fond of cinematography, animation and everything connected with it.

My son has been studying English at school for the second year. Recently I found out that his knowledge in this area is simply terrible. Problems were found even with the alphabet. Something had to be done.

For some reason, the method of memorizing words using double-sided cards did not work in our situation. Probably due to poor knowledge of the alphabet. I am generally silent about various programs for a smartphone: the child’s language learning is not zero, but rather negative, so that these programs can interest him.

I had to, relying on the experience of my predecessors, develop and test my own method. Well, personally manage the learning process.

A bit of theory

Memorization can be reduced to a cyclical process of three components:

1. Perception.
2. Repetition.
3. Testing.

When we want the child to remember the information, the task becomes more complicated: it is not clear how well he perceived it, how many times he repeated it, and testing the student leads to stress and negative emotions in case of a bad result.

Let's look at all three components of the memorization process and how they can be improved.

Perception

For high-quality perception, it is desirable to use as many types of memory as possible: auditory, visual, motor. You can also add such a variety as verbal memory.

Repetition

When repeating the material, oddly enough, an effective method turned out to be multiple recording of the subjects being studied with their simultaneous pronunciation.

I read about this method in the memoirs of a Soviet intelligence officer. He called this technique the most effective for increasing vocabulary.

The effectiveness of the combination of multiple rewriting of words with their simultaneous pronunciation can be explained by the fact that all possible types of memory are involved in the process.

Rewriting allows you to automate the process, depersonalize it. In addition, recorded words document the fact of repetition and make it possible to find out which material is remembered better and which is worse.

Testing

When testing knowledge, it would be good to hide the very fact of testing from the child, but leave a reward for its successful completion. That is, hide the whip, but stick out the gingerbread in every possible way.

If confirmed, then the cycle "perception - repetition - testing" is interrupted. If not, we repeat. So there is an incentive to quickly learn all the material.

At the same time, knowledge is obtained in portions and tested in portions, and not like this: "Sit down, now I will check how you learned what you were asked today."

How the method works

Since the son did not know the alphabet very well, we started with him. I found the simplest recipes on the Internet, similar to these:

First, I got my son to fully associate the pronunciation of each letter with its spelling: this will be very important in the future. After the alphabet, we moved on to words. To do this, I used and continue to use an ordinary student notebook in a ruler or sheets from such a notebook. In the margins I write the Russian meanings of the words (expressions) that I have to learn.

On the appropriate lines you need to write these words. Since each word is new, I allow you to rewrite it from the textbook for the first time. Then the son writes the word as many times as it fits on the line.

At the same time, he not only writes, but every time he says the word aloud.

At the end, the sheet turns over, and there is a surprise! The same Russian words are in the margins, and you need to fill in all the lines with their English counterparts, but without peeping into the textbook.

Three important points:

1. I'm against the child, I do not reproach him for mistakes.
2. If he doesn't remember the spelling, I spell it out (this is where a good knowledge of the alphabet comes in handy).
3. If the child wrote and pronounced the word without prompts the first time, then there is an agreement between us that he does not repeat it on the entire line. In the future, the word is removed from the lists. It is believed that it has been learned and the cycle of "perception - repetition - testing" is completed for it.

The process is repeated until all words from the original list are excluded. The photo below is about the fourth iteration.

In the same way, we previously taught the alphabet with our son. I wrote in Russian “hey”, “bi”, “si”, “di” and so on in the margins, and my son filled in the lines with English uppercase and lowercase letters.

Pros and cons of the method

The method has several strengths. Almost all types of memory are involved: auditory, visual, verbal and motor. Learning is stress-free, the student does not suffer.

The rules of the game are simple and fair. We can say that the method works automatically and the result appears as if by itself. A vivid demonstration of the dialectical principle of the transition of quantity into quality. The algorithm is applicable for repeating forgotten material and is easily scaled for different volumes of words.

The method gives the student objective criteria for achieving the goal. There are real incentives to quickly learn everything and go for a walk.

The disadvantages of this method of learning are also obvious: you need a lot of paper and a "supervisor".

The son learned the spelling and pronunciation of the English names of the days of the week in an evening. The next day I received an A on the test paper, the praise and surprise of the teacher. And this is not the only success.

It was also interesting to observe how the material, if not repeated. First of all, the ability to write without errors disappears, then the pronunciation begins to suffer, and last of all, the sound of the word is forgotten. But the ability to recognize it in the text remains for a long time.

I do not think that the method is ideal, but using the memorization mechanisms described, you can always come up with something of your own.